Kazakhstan announces 36.6% increase in defence spending over next three years

Kazakhstan has announced plans to increase defence spending by 36.6% in nominal terms over the next three years.

Under measures revealed by the Ministry of Finance, the defence budget will increase from KZT362.7 billion (USD2 billion) in 2014 to KZT495.5 billion (USD2.7 billion) in 2017.

According to the draft law on ‘Republican Budget for 2015-17’ released in September, the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) budget will grow by 3.9% in 2015, 13.2% in 2016, and 16.2% in 2017. The planned growth is in line with current trends given that defence expenditure increased by an average rate of 14.2% annually between 2010 and 2014.